COLUMBUS – With the aim of improving the lives of assisted living facility residents, the Ohio Department of Aging (ODA) will be hosting Assisted Living Feedback Forums across the state in August and September. At these feedback forums, ODA will hear directly from Ohioans about their experiences with assisted living facilities.
Beginning on Aug. 7 in Columbus, ODA will host feedback forums in seven different Ohio locations to solicit opinions from assisted living residents and their loved ones as well as facility staff and administrators.
Bowling Green will host a forum on Aug. 19 from 2-4 p.m. at the Wood County Senior Center, 140 S. Grove St. Register at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/F5JK2V7.
During the sessions, Ohioans will be able to discuss their experiences in selecting an assisted living facility. Then, attendees will have access to a prototype of “Version 2.0” of what is currently called Ohio’s Nursing Home Quality Navigator.
The Navigator, announced and launched in February at a press conference by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and ODA Director Ursel J. McElroy, is an online tool providing users with detailed information about nursing homes across the state in one convenient digital location. Navigator Version 2.0, set to be released later this year, will be updated to include assisted living facilities, among other features.
“As we visited locations around the state last year and listened to Ohioans share their lived experiences with nursing homes, we also heard a pressing need to address care in assisted living facilities,” said McElroy. “With these new feedback forums, ODA will gather personal stories and suggestions from every corner of the state and use that to improve the quality of care and quality of life for assisted living residents. This is also a tremendous opportunity to get direct commentary from users on our popular Navigator and use that commentary to make the next version of the Navigator even better.”
These feedback forums will be similar in setup to the listening sessions that ran as part of the Governor’s Nursing Quality & Accountability Task Force in 2023. The Task Force’s Recommendations Report, released in May 2023, laid the foundation for the governor and General Assembly to pass a package of historic nursing home investments and policy reforms as part of the state operating budget.
